


Horse Training

by Mustangsflame



Series: Httyd but with horses [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Look it Up, also bullying? I think, brief mention of toothless, brief mentions of burns, mainly focuses on meatlug, the gronkle is the Fjord Horse, the horse just screams gronkle to me, this isnt how to train ahorse, wrong training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 19:41:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18629983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mustangsflame/pseuds/Mustangsflame
Summary: “Aw, great. Who let him in?” Tuffnut scrunched up his nose, looking at the chief’s son with something akin to disgust. Before the rest of the teens could continue to comment, Gobber butt in, going behind Hiccup to close the gate.“Right! Let’s get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of taming his first horse in front of the entire village.” Gobber narrowed his eyes, now standing next to Hiccup and gesturing with his prosthetic hand… hook?“Hiccup already captured an Arabian, so… does that disqualify him or…?” Snotlout raised his eyebrows in mocking question as the other teens snickered. They began to walk off, Tuffnut asking to trade to another class with the cool Vikings. As if it wasn’t only them 6 in the same age group.





	Horse Training

**Author's Note:**

> another 3 amer
> 
> anyways, so the au gets complicated with shot counts and stuff so just go with the flow as best u can 
> 
> sorry for any grammar mistakes!

“Welcome to Horse Training!” Gobber’s voice boomed throughout the arena, limping into the middle as a group of teenagers followed. The leader of the group, Astrid, walked with her riding crop in hand. She was followed by the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout (Hiccup’s cousin). Fishlegs carried an extra rope and Tuffnut carried a lunge whip over his shoulder. The group was marveling at the arena, eyes looking over to the shielded roof and the covered stalls, keeping the horses a secret. The teens had only ever seen the arena from afar, not allowed to get close to the untamed and wild horses that Berk had managed to capture. The only domesticated horses they had were Icelandics, and as well as they suited the climate, it was a wonder how wild horses like the Fjord horse and the Thoroughbreds made it all the way up to Berk. They were the horses most sought after, and also the horses nobody could tame. 

That’s why they were going to be the first. 

“I hope I get some serious burns!” Tuffnut grinned in excitement. Leave it to one of the Thorston’s to want a dirt burn. 

“I’m hoping for some mauling, like on my shoulder or lower back.” Ruffnut agreed, keeping pace with her twin. The teens made it to center arena, still staring at the bare bones of what used to be a jumping arena. Near one of the (metal and barred) fences was a rack of supplies like shields, ropes, and whips. Their purpose was to subdue the horse when it gets released into the ring. 

“Yeah,” Astrid sighed out, smirking, already planning a battle strategy to get any horse under her control. “It’s only fun if you get a scar out of it.”

“Yeah, no kidding, right?” A voice behind them spoke, obviously not thrilled to be here. “Pain; love it!” The teens turned to see Hiccup, who was very clearly not happy. In his hands, he held a bridle, as if that would be of any use to them right now.

“Aw, great. Who let him in?” Tuffnut scrunched up his nose, looking at the chief’s son with something akin to disgust. Before the rest of the teens could continue to comment, Gobber butt in, going behind Hiccup to close the gate.

“Right! Let’s get started! The recruit who does best will win the honor of taming his first horse in front of the entire village.” Gobber narrowed his eyes, now standing next to Hiccup and gesturing with his prosthetic hand… hook? 

“Hiccup already captured an Arabian, so… does that disqualify him or…?” Snotlout raised his eyebrows in mocking question as the other teens snickered. They began to walk off, Tuffnut asking to trade to another class with the cool Vikings. As if it wasn’t only them 6 in the same age group.

Gobber leaned over to Hiccup, intruding in the small personal bubble Hiccup already created.  
“Don’t worry. You’re small, you’re weak. That’ll make you less of a target. They’ll see you as sector and sane and go after the more Viking like teens instead.” Gobber explained, walking Hiccup over to stand with the rest of the teens at their starting position. 

Wait, target?! 

Hiccup’s eyes widened for a fraction. Was a horse going to kill one of them? 

Gobber only chuckled and let Hiccup be, walking ahead of all the teens. “Behind this gates, are just a few of the many breeds you will learn to train!” 

Gobber strolled down to the first gate, gesturing with his hand. “The Trakehner!” 

“Speed eight, endurance sixteen.” a small mutter came from Fishlegs, causing Hiccup to turn his head slightly. 

“The Lippizaners. Double the trouble.” Gobber gave a pointed look towards the twins.

“Dressage eleven, stealth times two.” How was Fishlegs memorizing all of these?

“The fiery Thoroughbred.” Something banged against the gate that the teens couldn’t see.

“Speed fifteen.”

“The American paint ponies.” 

“Spite eight, discipline twelve!.” Hiccup looked on with mild disgust. Why was Fishlegs so excited.

“Can you stop that?!” Gobber snapped, shutting Fishlegs up for the time being. “And the Fjord.” Gobber finished, beginning to unhook the gate.

Fishlegs leaned over to Hiccup, keeping his voice at a whisper. “Strength eight.” 

Snotlout appeared to be the first to notice that Gobber was going to release this wild horse into the arena with them before teaching them anything, stepping forward to try to stop him. “Whoa! Wait! Aren’t you gonna teach us first?” If there was mild fear in Snotlout’s eyes, he didn’t show it.

“I believe in learning on the job.” Gobber smirked and pulled out the piece of metal that was holding the gate. The gate creaked forwards for a moment, causing all the teens to suck in a breath and pray to Thor in their minds. 

The Fjord Horse burst through the gap, already at a full gallop and charging straight for Ruffnut and Tuffnut, but all the teens scattered. Hiccup bolted towards the side, actively avoiding the wild horse’s line of fire and trying to gain speed despite his boots sinking in the footing.

“Today is all about survival. If you get hit, you’re dead!” Gobber yelled, making sure everyone could hear him. The Fjord slammed on the breaks, sliding in the dirt for a moment before turning on a back leg and charging back at the teens. Its teeth were bared and ready to bite and kick and trample.

“Quick! What’s the first thing you’re going to need?” Gobber yelled, causing the teens to scramble in panic. 

“Uh, a doctor?!” Hiccup yelped out.

“Plus five-speed?!” Fishlegs countered. 

“A shield!” Astrid answered, causing another scramble between the teens. Hiccup didn’t know where the horse was, amidst all the chaos and looking for a shield. 

“Good! A shield! Go!” Gobber barked out. The teens ran towards the defense, each grabbing one and hoisting it to their chest. All except for Hiccup, of course. He could barely lift the shield while also holding the stupid bridle his dad had given him. 

“You’re most important piece of equipment is your shield!” Gobber walked over to Hiccup, who was still struggling on how to even lift the shield. Gobber grabbed the shield, yanking Hiccup’s arm up with it and pressed it to Hiccup’s chest, now speaking directly to Hiccup. “If you have to choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!” He pushed Hiccup off with one arm, causing Hiccup to stumble forwards. He relocated the Fjord Horse, now charging in circles and picking its next victim. 

From across the arena, Hiccup could see the twins arguing about a shield. He winced to himself as Ruffnut bonked her brother on the head with it, but quickly began backing further away as he saw the Fjord charge straight towards the twins, raising its front legs and rearing down on the shield, splitting it and sending the twins flying back. 

“Tuffnut! Ruffnut! You’re out!” The twins both sat up, confused and dazed as Gobber carried on. “Those shields are good for another thing! Noise! Make lots of it and throw off a horse’s surroundings.”

The teens began to rapidly hit their shields with the items in their hands, successfully disorienting the Fjord and causing it to lash out several different directions. The Fjord than charged straight towards Astrid, as clumsy as it was.

“All horses have a limited number of kicks! How many does a Fjord Horse have?” Snotlout was running from the horse now, a panicked look on his face.

“Five?!” Snotlout guessed, managing to get away from the charging horse, slowing only slightly to catch his breath. 

“No! Six!” Fishlegs stopped altogether, raising the arm that carried his shield. 

“Correct! That’s one for each of ya!” Gobber yelled out. Fishlegs went to advise against Gobber’s methods but then the Fjord’s back hoof quite literally kicked his shield flying. Fishlegs froze for a moment before bolting to safety himself. “Fishlegs, out!” Gobber confirmed. 

Hiccup watched for a moment before attempting to walk along the fence with his shield up. 

“Hiccup, get in there!” Gobber’s scold caused Hiccup to falter for a moment, grabbing the Fjord’s attention and barely missing a hoof to the shield as he ducked back near his hiding spot. 

The Fjord gave an angry neigh before pulling around to face Astrid and Snotlout. Hiccup couldn’t hear a lot of what was going in between the two, but Astrid did not sound interested. It was until he heard a resounding crack of wood that he knew what happened. 

“Snotlout! You’re done!” 

Astrid had ended up running to where Hiccup was, and it was in that moment Hiccup made his presence known to her. He stood next to her, lowering his shield subconsciously while Astrid’s eyes stayed locked on the horse. 

“So.. uh, I guess it's just you and me, huh?” Hiccup tried to grin, almost tried to reassure this warrior girl. 

“Nope! Just you!” Astrid ran across his path just as he raised his shield on instinct, feeling the impact of the Fjord’s hooves. 

“One shot left!”

Shockingly, his shield didn’t break and held steady. With the impact, though, it knocked the shield right out of Hiccup’s hands. Before Hiccup could think twice, he dropped the bridle and bolted after the shield, trying to get it to stop rolling. He heard the drumming of hooves behind him and his name being called. Hiccup went to turn but found himself panicking and stumbling backward. His back hit the gate, bruising a rib as the Fjord closed in, stopping and getting ready to rear up and finish Hiccup with his front hooves. Hiccup closed his eyes, waiting for the oncoming death. 

He would never tell his dad how he truly felt about training. Or about the Arabian. He wouldn’t get to help the black Arabian or tell his dad that he lov- he wouldn’t get to say goodbye to his dad. 

Hiccup tucked his head, waiting for the impact that never came. He heard the impact of hooves and blinked his eyes open, seeing Gobber using the hook on his stump to pull the wild horse away by the rope halter. 

“That’s six! Go back to bed, ya overgrown sausage!” Gobber grumbled, stopping the horse from biting him as he pushed it back into its stall, closing the gate behind. “You’ll get another chance, don’t you worry.” 

Gobber walked to stand in front of five teenagers, who were all leaning on each other for support and panting. “Remember, a wild horse will always,” he then turned to Hiccup, getting back into his personal space bubble. “Always, go for the kill.”

Gobber then grabbed Hiccup’s arm and pulled him up to his feet, choosing to ignore the panicked breathing coming from Hiccup’s mouth. No point in comforting and embarrassing Hiccup in front of an already ostracizing crowd.

For Hiccup, he couldn’t get any air down. He felt nauseous and his bones hurt and his muscles ached. He could barely stand and he knew he wouldn’t be able to lean on anybody for support like the other teens were. 

He turned to look at the impact the horse made on the ground, hoofprints carved into the dirt. It got him thinking; this wild horse was willing to kill him without hesitation, 

"So, why didn’t you?” Hiccup asked himself, crouching down to pick up the bolas that had trapped the Arabian. The Arabian had only scared him, but there were plenty of chances to kill him. So why didn’t it?

**Author's Note:**

> Follow @equinehttyd on tumblr for more info and lore about the au
> 
> also everything gobber says feeels like I'm stroking out so theres that


End file.
